A publication of the World Transhumanist Association
http://www.transhumanism.org
Editor in Chief: James Hughes - secretary@transhumanism.org
Managing Editor: Christopher Camp - CCamp@OMM.com
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CONTENTS:
Events
November 15, 2002 – Newport Beach CA:
Alcor Conference on Extreme Life Extension
June 27, 2003 – New Haven, CT: Transvision 2003 USA
July 17, 2003 – San Francisco: Conference on Accelerating Change
July 18, 2003 – San Francisco: World Future Society
August 28, 2003 - Toronto: WorldCon 2003
WTA News
Membership Update
JBS Haldane Award
News from the Field
New York: NYTA
Germany: De:Trans
Toronto: Toronto Transhumanist Association
New Chapters Organizing
Nigeria
New Jersey
Germany
News from Affiliates and Friends
New Additions to Betterhumans
Things to Read and Watch
New in Transhumanity - Book reviews, articles and interviews
New in Betterhumans
Sound And Fury
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EVENTS
TRANSVISION 2003
USA CONFERENCE TAKES SHAPE
Online registration
for TV03USA "The Adaptable
Human Body: Transhumanism and Bioethics in the 21st Century"
is now up and running. Registration is $75 for WTA full
members and $95 for non-members if you register before
April 1, 2003. Registration is also available for the
Intensive Seminar On Transhumanism scheduled for June 26th.
This all day seminars will allow a small number of
students (15 or so) an opportunity to learn from and
interact with the seminal figures of the transhumanist movement.
Seminar faculty includes Nick Bostrom PhD., Mark Walker PhD.,
James Hughes PhD., and Robin Hanson PhD. with additional faculty
to be added soon. The cost is $80 for WTA full members and $100
for non-members (less for students).
For more information on the seminar go to:
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/index.htm#seminar
To register for either the TV03USA conference or the June 26
seminar go to:
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/registration.htm
Call For Papers and Media/Performance Projects - Deadline
approaches
The call for papers continues and the December 15, 2002
deadline for submission approaches. The conference will
also have a space for viewing videos, both documentary
and non-documentary format, and performances that explore
the themes of the conference.
Paper submissions –
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/call.htm
To submit video or media projects -
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/2003usa/call.htm#videos
ALCOR: CONFERENCE
ON EXTREME LIFE EXTENSION
The folks at Alcor
celebrate 30 years of incredible work.
The Conference on Extreme Life Extension will be held in
Newport Beach, California on November 16-17. Cryonics has
been getting increased amounts of attention in popular media
thanks to Ted Williams and the legal wrangling surrounding
his recent cryonic suspension. In spite of widespread
incredulity among the general public Alcor continues to
seriously explore how nanotechnology and other technological
advances will let us practically extend our lifespan. Speakers
include Gregory Benford, Ray Kurzweil and K. Eric Drexler.
Those interested can find more information at
http://www.alcor.org/conferences/2002/
Also of note:
Conference on Accelerating Change (Starts Thursday, July 17, 2003)
http://www.betterhumans.com/Resources/Events_Calendar/event.aspx?
eventID=2002-10-28-1
WorldFuture 2003 (Starts Friday, July 18, 2003)
http://www.betterhumans.com/Resources/Events_Calendar/event.aspx?
eventID=2002-10-28-2
WorldCon 2003 (Starts Thursday, August 28, 2003)
http://www.betterhumans.com/Resources/Events_Calendar/event.aspx?
eventID=2002-11-02-1
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WTA NEWS
MEMBERSHIP
WTA membership
keeps growing; almost doubling since membership
numbers were last updated. We now have 1,983 members,
compared to 1,087 in March 2000. Hits on the WTA website have
been increasing; from April to July 2002 an average of 172
web surfers looked at our site, while the average from August
to the present has been 266. The increase in the number of
local chapters has been impressive and the number of countries
where the WTA is represented continues to grow. The next few
years should mark an explosive period of growth for the WTA
as transhumanist memes proliferate more generally. Anyone
interested in starting a local chapter or adding a WTA link
to their website can find more information here
http://www.transhumanism.org/groups.htm#organizing
J.B.S HALDANE
AWARD
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/Haldane.htm
WTA has created a new award, the Annual JBS Haldane Award for
Best Undergraduate Transhumanist Paper to honor the top
undergraduate paper in the field of transhumanism. The award
winner will be honored at a ceremony to be held the evening
of Saturday, June 28, 2003 during the Transvision 2003 USA
conference at Yale University. The awardee will receive $250,
and the paper will be considered for publication in a forthcoming
special transhumanism issue of the Cambridge Quarterly of
Healthcare Ethics, or in the Journal of Evolution and Technology.
This award should serve as an excellent way to introduce college
students to transhumanist ideas. If you are an active member in a
college community think about putting up some flyers around
campus.
Haldane award flyers are available at
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/Awardflyer.pdf
and
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/Awardflyer.doc
A note on Haldane - J.B.S. Haldane was one of the first
twentieth century biologists to promote the posthuman
possibilities made possible by science and technology.
In his landmark essay "Daedalus or Science and the
Future"
(1923) Haldane argued against knee-jerk biases against
biological progress and predicted "ectogenesis" or
"test-tube babies" and other futurist technologies.
For more information on the award and JBS Haldane
http://www.transhumanism.org/tv/Haldane.htm
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NEWS FROM THE
FIELD
NEW YORK
The New York Transhumanist Association (NYTA) had a successful
second public meeting on Nov. 7th. Andrew Zolli, editor of
the book "Catalog of Tomorrow" gave an overview of his
new
book and led a discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of
transhumanism. NYTA is looking to grow aggressively and
interested New Yorkers can attend the next meeting on Nov. 21st,
contact Mike Treder for more information at (iph1954@msn.com)
TORONTO
It was another busy month for the Toronto Transhumanist
Association (TTA). On October 2 the TTA made its intentions
known to the World Transhumanist Association that it would
take on the duties and responsibilities of the Canadian
Transhumanist Association pending the establishment of two more
Canadian WTA charters (the TTA is the only Canadian WTA charter).
In the meantime, the TTA's executives will act in parallel as
the executive staff for the pending CTA.
In early November the Toronto Transhumanist Association organized
a booth at the Ontario Skeptics Society for Critical Inquiry
conference. President Simon Smith and Vice-President George
Dvorsky presented a talk on "Scientific Possibilities: The
Dangers of Skeptical Futurology and the Solutions of
Transhumanism." This marked the first public appearance by
the
TTA.
In addition to these activities, the TTA has been working
closely with the newly formed New York Transhumanist Association
(NYTA) and the WTA of Southwest North America (WTA-SOWENOAM).
An excellent working relationship has been established,
with all chapters enthusiastically co-operating and
exchanging information, administrative documents, and advice.
For information on upcoming meetings go to
http://toronto.transhumanism.com
or contact George Dvorsky at george@betterhumans.com
GERMANY
German transhumanists held a successful meeting in Munich on
the 19th and 20th of October. Members from both the Bonn
chapter and De:Trans met and discussed future goals for
German transhumanists. A decision was made to revamp the
De:Trans website. Those who speak German can look for a new
version of the site soon at http://www.transhumanismus.de/.
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NEW CHAPTERS
ORGANIZING
NIGERIA
Nigerian transhumanists interested in starting a Nigerian
chapter of the WTA should contact Innocent Ogu (inomina@yahoo.com
)
NEW JERSEY
For those in Jersey who aren't able to make the trip into
New York for NYTA functions Joseph Bloch
(transhumanist@goldenfuture.net)
is looking for other
transhumanist interested in joining a WTA chapter in New Jersey.
GERMANY
Transhumanists in Bonn should contact Torsten Nahm (tnahm@web.de)
for
information on creating a chapter and on upcoming meetings.
NEWS FROM FRIENDS
AND AFFILIATES
BETTERHUMANS
www.betterhumans.com
Betterhumans have made a couple of new additions to their team.
Sabine Atkins will be writing about transhumanist ideas,
exploring both the feminine side of transhumanism and how these
ideas are expressed in music and movies. She will also be
writing with the worthy goal of making transhumanist memes
more accessible to a general, non-transhumanist audience.
Jonathan Smith is another new addition and will be working on
improving Betterhumans news coverage.
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THING TO READ AND
WATCH
NEW IN
TRANSHUMANITY
www.transhumanism.com
Interview with Frank J. Tipler, by G.P., November 2, 2002.
Change Surfing - The Perils of Futurist Parenting,
by James Hughes, Novemebr 2, 2002
Review - Noreen L. Herzfeld, In Our Image:
Artificial Intelligence and the
Human Spirit, by Peter Houghton, October 27, 2002.
Review of a "Transhumanist classic" -
John D. Bernal, The World, the Flesh,
and the Devil. by G.P., October 16, 2002
Versus Column #2, by Cyril Fievet, September 29, 2002.
Transhumanism VS. Science. "When I say to my friends that
I have become a "transhumanist", they generally look at
me
with a mix of surprise and disappointment.
Something in their eyes seems to say "Oh no, not you!",
and clearly
expresses that they have no idea of what is - and is not -
Transhumanism. The fact is that most people are not yet aware
of the transhumanist initiative, and in particular of the
fact that it is all about Science..."
NEW IN BETTERHUMANS
www.betterhumans.com
Senseless Starvation by Simon Smith. Irrationality and political
maneuvering could kill millions of African people, along with
biotechnology's promise to the poor
Cloning as a Valid Reproductive Choice, by James Hughes:
It's not ready just yet but when the technology improves
there's no good reason to ban reproductive cloning.
Preparing for a Strange Future, by Sabine Atkins:
Why think Ahead? In her first column for Betterhumans,
Sabine Atkins gives her reasons and charts
her own futurological course.
TRANS-VIEWING
Sound and Fury
This documentary by Josh Aronson poses some interesting questions
For transhumanists and the challenges we will face as we work
towards political and popular acceptance. The film explores the
impact of technological advancement (in the form of cochlear
implants) on a particular culture (the deaf community).
Some members of the deaf community take an adversarial
relationship towards the implants and see the technology
as a destroyer of their culture and families. The personal and
emotional tension caused by the option of technological
augmentation
and 'improvement' are likely to be echoed in the transhumanist
struggles to extend life, design AI's and upgrade intelligence and
the
senses. For those interested in better understanding the level
of trauma and hope the cochlear revolution has caused within the
deaf community and how we can better navigate the coming
transhuman revolutions this movie is worth its 80-minute length.
More information can be found at
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0240912
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ABOUT THE WTA
The World
Transhumanist Association is a nonprofit membership
organization, which works to promote discussion of the
possibilities for radical improvement of human capacities
using genetic, cybernetic and nanotechnologies. The WTA
is growing faster than ever, and we invite you to join us
in this important work. You may also enroll in one of our
discussion lists and join one of our local WTA chapters,
which can be found in countries and languages all over the
world. The WTA speakers bureau can provide someone to answer
questions on the transhumanist perspective to the media or
to your group. Also, take a look at our Journal of Evolution
and Technology and our new ezine Transhumanity.
Join us in working for a brighter future!
http://www.transhumanism.org/join.htm
Basics